Local Law To Incentivize Renovations To Abandoned Properties

Dennis Phillips

Jamestown Reporter/Business Editor

dphillips@post-journal.com

From left, back row, Vince DeJoy, city development director; Kimberly Ecklund, councilwoman; Gregory Rabb, council president; Todd Thomas, city clerk and administrative services director; from left front row, Marie Carrubba, councilwoman; Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, and Anthony Dolce, councilman; during the ceremonial signing of the Local Property Tax Abatement Incentive Redevelopment of Vacant and Condemned Properties law in the mayor's office Wednesday.
P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

A new local law to incentivize renovating abandoned properties or creating a new structure on a vacant lot is officially in place.

On Wednesday, city officials gathered for a ceremonial signing of the new local law titled Local Property Tax Abatement Incentive Redevelopment of Vacant and Condemned Properties program. Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, said he doesn’t usually host ceremonial law signings with city officials, but he wanted to highlight the quality work done by city and state officials belonging to both sides of the political aisle who worked together to get the tax incentive program passed.

Teresi said the idea for the program was suggested by Marie Carrubba, Ward 4 councilwoman, about two years ago after she heard about her hometown of Batavia passing a similar law. The mayor said Carrubba, who is a Democrat, then reached out to Vince DeJoy, city development director, about creating a program for Jamestown to assist developers in saving abandoned properties or creating new structures on vacant lots.

Once the law was created, Teresi said the law was passed at the local level by the nine member city council, which has six Democrats and three Republicans, unanimously. He said the legislation was then sponsored by Republicans Andy Goodell, state assemblyman, and Kathy Young, state senator, who got the local law passed through the Democratic majority Assembly and Republican-controlled Senate, which was then signed by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“I’m very proud of what we’ve done with this local law and I’m proud of how it was done,” Teresi said.